Trick or Date
by nebula2
Summary: Halloween is a holiday custom made for the Weasley twins. This year, are they up to a trick or a treat? Set during Prisoner of Azkaban year. One-shot


_AN: Given that I want to post this on Halloween and I'm up against the deadline of leaving for work, this is being posted without any editing. Sorry in advanced for any mistakes that might exist._

_On another note, I always wanted to do a story where Snape has a daughter but never got around to it. In this story, I did give him a daughter, so this isn't strictly cannon._

**Disclaimer: The Harry Potter characters belong to J.K. Rowling not me.**

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><p>With the coming of Halloween, the corridors of Hogwarts had taken on a festive mood, even with the Dementors looming outside. The announcement of a Masquerade Ball to follow the traditional Halloween feast, was helping boost the students spirits. As bats swooped above their heads, the young witches and wizards of Hogwarts discussed what they would wear to the Masquerade ball. The talk of costumes help deter some of the usual talk of Halloween pranks, though some students were still more interested in mischief than dancing.<p>

Then there were those who had something other than Halloween on their mind. Oliver Wood was one of those students. With an upcoming match against Ravenclaw, devising a plan to beat them was the only thing on his mind, which meant it should be the only thing on his players' minds as well. With such thinking, it never crossed Wood's mind that the Weasley twins, Potter, and his three Chasers would rather be anywhere else than with him heading down to the Quidditch pitch to check out the Ravenclaw practice.

For George and Fred though, thoughts of what they could be doing other then making the trek in the cold to the pitch, had evaporated upon meeting up with Wood and the others in the Entrance hall. Instead, they were more focused on what their older brother Percy was doing standing beside Wood. Granted, the two were best friends, but other than going to the matches in support of Gryffindor, Percy had never before taken any interest in the team or the sport.

Neither one of them were buying the 'coming to support the team' line that Oliver had given to explain Percy's presence. So while Oliver had been explaining to everyone what he expected them to be watching for during this outing, Fred and George had been whispering between themselves, trying to come up with the real reason Percy was heading toward the Quidditch pitch. As much fun as they were having with their creative scenarios, they weren't satisfied with any of them.

So, as soon as Wood had stopped his lecturing, Fred decided to try and satisfy his curiosity.

"So, just why has the Headboy chose to grace us with his prescence?" Fred asked, not even bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice.

"Can't I be supportive of my house team," Percy replied, not bothering to look back at his brother as he walked beside Oliver.

"Sure you can, by showing up for the matches like the rest of the Gryffindors," George replied, not buying the excuse anymore than he had the first time. "That still doesn't explain why you're coming along on one of Wood's spying trips when most of the rest of the team doesn't even want to go."

Wood looked over his shoulder to glare at George. "He came because I wanted another set of eyes, seeing as my teammates aren't exactly reliable."

"So you brought Percy?" Fred countered. "You could have at least got someone who has an interest in the sport."

"And knows the rules," George piped in.

"Just because I don't choose to play the game, doesn't mean I don't know the rules," Percy stated, finally looking back over his shoulder at the twins.

"Yeah, get it right George, Percy just can't stay on a broomstick, which is an essential part of the game."

"Ignore them," Oliver told Percy, grabbing his friend's arm. The last thing he wanted was to play referee for a fight between the Weasley brothers.

Percy took Oliver's advice and didn't respond as the group continued onto the Quidditch pitch.

The Ravenclaw team was already in the air when the Gryffindors climbed into the stands to watch. George and Fred chose a seat behind the others, planning on watching both the action on the field and their brother. It didn't take them long to realize that it wasn't the game that Percy was interested in, but Ariana Snape, one of the Ravenclaw beaters. For all Wood's talk about wanting Percy there as another pair of eyes, their older brother only had eyes for Ariana.

Looking at one another, the twins shared a grin. Once again, their older brother was in love.

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><p>Fred and George showed up in the locker room for Quidditch practice early two days later. With it being the day before Halloween, and the masquerade ball, the twins were running out of time to elicit Wood's help in their scheme. For once, they were choosing the treat side of Halloween, and planned on doing something nice for their older brother.<p>

A quick conversation with Ariana earlier in the day had led to the discovery that the Ravenclaw beat and Prefect had a crush on Percy as well but was too shy to strike up a conversation with him out of the blue. So, instead of teasing their brother right off the bat, the twins decided to play matchmaker instead. It hadn't taken much convincing to get Ariana to agree to meet Percy at the Masquerade Ball the following day. They knew the hard part was going to be getting Percy to the prearranged meeting spot. For that, they knew they were going to need Oliver's assistant.

When the Gryffindor Quidditch captain walked into the locker room well before the rest of the team, he found himself faced with the Weasley twins.

"We need your help, Oliver," George said, not wasting any time.

"What trouble did you get yourselves into this time?" Oliver immediately asked, wondering if he was going to need to find himself two more beaters for the next match because the twins had gotten themselves barred from playing.

"Really, Oliver, I'm hurt. That's the first conclusion you come to," Fred asked, doing his best to sound hurt by the question.

"When it comes to you two, yes that is the conclusion I jump to."

"Well, you're wrong this time," Fred told him.

"Yeah. This time we want your help doing something nice for Percy."

Reaching out, Oliver placed the back of his hand against Fred's forehead. He was convinced the twins were running a fever after that announcement.

"Neither one of us are sick," Fred told him.

"Yeah, we just want to help young love along," George continued. "It didn't take us long to realize why Percy was watching the Ravenclaw practice."

"It was pretty obvious really," Fred interjected.

"And after a conversation with Ariana, it seems the beautiful young Ravenclaw feels the same way."

"In fact, we've arranged for her to meet Percy by the witches around the cauldron at the start of the Masquerade Ball."

"What we need your help with is making sure he meets her. We've left a card from a secret pal with his books, which knowing Percy's habits he's sure to find soon, detailing the arrangements," George explained. "Giving our reputations..."

"As evidenced by the assumptions you've made," Fred remarked.

"Percy is sure to assume the card is a trick by us. We need you to convince him otherwise."

"Are you two serious?"

"Dead serious," the twins replied in unison.

Wood hesitated. He knew Percy was head over heels for Ariana, even more than he had been with Penelope. The last thing he wanted was for Percy to end up with hurt feelings, or humiliated, by helping the twins out with some kind of joke. Still, if Ariana really did like Percy as well, then helping out would make his best friend very happy.

"I'll think about it," Oliver finally replied, determined that he was going to talk to Ariana himself before saying anything to Percy.

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><p>Nevously, Percy headed down to the Great Hall with Oliver. Despite his friend's encouragement that he should make the meeting described in the card that had mysteriously appeared. Oliver had even produced the red rose boutonniere that the card had indicated he should wear.<p>

Despite his friend's encouragement, Percy was still expecting this to be a trick. The most likely scenario he could come up with was either George or Fred would be waiting for him by the cauldron.

Entering the Great Hall, Percy's eyes immediately went in the direction of the display of three witches standing around a cauldron. Sure enough, a lone figure, mask in place, was standing there. As the card had indicated, they wore a red rose behind their right ear.

Still expecting some kind of trick, Percy headed in that direction.

"You came," the person standing by the cauldron exclaimed as he approached. Despite the mask, Percy would recognize the voice anywhere, and it definitely wasn't one of his brothers.

"I did," Percy replied, cringing at the response. Not exactly words that would make a good impression.

"I'm glad," Ariana replied, smiling beneath the mask that covered her eyes. "I kept hoping you'd ask me to come with you to the ball but all you seemed to do was watch me."

Percy felt his cheeks grow warm. He hadn't realized he had been so obvious. "I didn't think you would say yes if I did ask," he admitted.

"Well, then I'm glad I took the risk of trusting Fred and George this one time. I was so sure this was going to turn into another one of their pranks."

"So, those two were behind this."

"Yes, and I think it's a sweet gesture on their parts, don't you."

"Yeah," Percy agreed, though in the back of his mind he wondered what the twins were buttering him up for. But he wasn't going to worry about that tonight. Tonight, he had the company of the girl he had been watching from the start of the school year and he wanted to enjoy it, even if it didn't last. "Would you like to dance?" Percy asked, nodding toward the center of the room where couples were swaying to the slow music playing.

"I'd love to," Ariana replied, looping her arm through Percy's as he lead her into the center of the room, happy to have gotten a treat instead of a trick this Halloween.


End file.
